Sam Raimi in Talks to Direct ‘Poltergeist’ Remake?

At a recent speaking engagement at the University of Denver, MGM CEO Roger Birnbaum was quite chatty about the studio’s upcoming projects — particularly its remake plans, which include a ‘Poltergeist’ reboot they’re negotiating with Sam Raimi to direct.

Raimi recently finished work on ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful,’ starring Robert Downey Jr. His horror background with films like the ‘Evil Dead’ trilogy and ‘Drag Me to Hell’ definitely shows he has the chops to handle this sort of material.

The original film, written and produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, followed a family who move to a new home and endure a spectacular haunting. When their little girl is abducted by the malicious poltergeist, they bring in a psychic medium to help get her back. Released in 1982, the original ‘Poltergeist’ was so successfully terrifying that it spawned two sequels (a third sequel was released in 1996).

‘Poltergeist’ featured unique special effects and one particular gross-out gag that calls to mind Raimi’s horror work, making him a logical candidate for the job, but perhaps that’s the problem. We”ve seen this kind of stuff from Raimi before.